Forget Me Not
by pandaXcheese
Summary: While cleaning out Italy's attic, his best friend and ally Germany finds mementos of the weak country's past, which cause him to remember something for his own...GerIta, among other pairings. Rated M because I have no clue where this is going.
1. Memento

Chapter 1

Dusts glided off the attic door as Germany pushed it open, determined to rid the loft of Italy's junk. The dust from the floor swooped up into his face, forcing the strict nation to release a sneeze and an army of coughs.

"Gack! *cough cough* Ugh! How long has it been since he came up here?!" Germany yelled. He inspected the attic with disgust. "It is insanely messy up here."

He picked up his cleaning supplies: a bucket of warm, soapy water, a rag, a broom, a duster, and a bottle of fancy wood-washing solution. He looked back at the huge box at the bottom of the ladder, wondering if he should bring that up too. Instead, Germany left it alone. _There's already enough crap up here anyways_, he reasoned. "Well, let's get started!"

It was time that the militarist became the "house maid"…sort of. Germany started in the back. As he walked towards the only window, he passed by an old fashioned broom. The whole thing was made of wood and horsehair. The tip was in the shape of a rectangle, and the bristles appeared worn. _It seems that this was used a lot, _Germany observed. The broom was so worn out that it appeared useless. Germany made his decision – _I'll throw it away later._

He continued through the pigsty, eventually finding an area to start the organizing crusade.

"Hm?"

Germany bumped into a flat object, covered with a cloth. "What is this?" he sighed. He picked it up and removed the cover. The object was a painting of a child. It looked to be a girl in a maid uniform smiling innocently, while holding a broom.

_Wait…That broom…_Germany inspected the painting further. The broom, it was the same broom that he passed by. And the face of the girl, actually looked quite boyish...and familiar...

"H-h-hold on, this little boy…looks a lot like Italy." Germany realized, feeling a mixture of shock and confusion. How could this kid be Italy? He remembers that child from his youth, but he never knew him personally. But then again, he feels like he did know him. Warm and kind, tender emotions rushed into the normally stoic veteran, and soon sorrow followed suite. Why did he feel this way? Now Germany was really confused.

Old memories, broken chains that he did not even know existed, came back slowly. Pieces arrived immediately, while some had blanks in between. Then one memory came back, an important one. An army was leaving an estate. His army. But who's estate?

There was a maid, sweeping. The dress swayed back and forth with the motion of the broom, dirt and unwanted particles brought up by it. The color of the clothing, the texture of the cloth, the sweet gentle kiss….

"Oh…Mein….Gott," Germany whimpered.

He remembered in that moment his past as the Holy Roman Empire, before the war changed him, and he realized who his first true love was…and possibly still is….

* * *

Well, that was the first chapter. How was it~? Since I'm just the editor, I have no idea where this is going, but it's off to a good start, eh? Please tell us what you think!

-Canada


	2. Mistakes

**Warning: Inconsistent accents, typos, a crying Italy, and alcohol. Lots and lots of alcohol.**

* * *

"Oi, West! I brought beer!" Prussia announced, generous in feeling. "Since I was in the neighborhood I figured we might as well have a few steins of it!"

He continued to the kitchen only to find his brother sulking at the table, completely surrounded by dozens of already consumed steins of alcohol. "Wow, looks like you've had some already…." the Prussian mused, dumbfounded.

Germany said nothing. There was an eerie atmosphere in the house, and Prussia did not relish in it one bit.

"Hey! Are you alright?!" Gilbert shouted almost hysterically, attempting to lift the mood. When he finally looked at Ludwig in the face he realized how bad everything was.

His brother looked depressed beyond depression…were…were those tears?! He hadn't cried since he was a child….but now they streamed down his cheeks in rivulets. Not only that, but he was whimpering, sniffling, and muttering some weird nonsense-

"Wh-w-why….him…?" the German questioned in between hiccups and sniffles.

"What is going on? Tell me!" the albino demanded. He had never seen Ludwig this emotional before, and to be honest it was kind of freaking him out.

The sniveling German continued with his behavior. Gilbert, ever the impatient one of the duo, made an assumption - "Teh, you must be _really_ drunk."

Almost immediately after hearing his sibling, Ludwig jumped up. He snatched Gilbert's collar of his shirt and protested furiously.

"I AM _**NOT**_ DRUNK!"

Startled, the Prussian chuckled nervously, "Okay, you are not drunk."

Ludwig sat down, letting his brother free. He continued to sulk in his depressed funk.

_No, you're just bipolar at the moment, _Gilbert thought cynically. _I guess the last thing he needs is more alcohol…unless it puts him to sleep. _

Gilbert attentively gave Ludwig some of his assuring advice, still unaware of the situation at hand. "Don't worry, life will get better. People suck anyway, who needs them?"

"You dun ge' i'…"Ludwig slurred miserably. He pointed to a box that was filled with junk from the attic, the box he didn't take with him and the rest of the cleaning supplies. Gilbert walked to it. "What, you got depressed while cleaning?"

"No...you dummkopf, the…." Ludwig paused to breathe, botching his last word. " ….'ain'in'."

"…..Eh?"

"The 'ain'in' of a 'ild."

Gilbert couldn't help it. He had heard his sibling intoxicated before, but he was usually drunk too and had a slight understanding of their conversations. Now it was like trying to Greek…no offense to the country. "What are you talking about?" he questioned frustratedly.

"THE DAMN PAINTING! IN THE BOX!" Ludwig bellowed, pointing back at the clutter in front of the attic ladder. Gilbert bent down, picking up the object Germany was unintelligibly bawling about.

"What's this?" Gilbert asked. He examined the painting. "This little boy looks adorable…" he stated plainly. Ludwig turned around to explain further, "That little boy is Italy, when he was under Austria's care…"

"Really?!"

"Yes, and he still acts the same…"

Gilbert was alarmed by is brother's words. He turned back towards Ludwig. "What do you mean by that?"

Ludwig shuffled in his seat. "Well…" He was unsure if it was alright to convene with his sibling in matters such as his. He turned back to the table and decided to sulk some more. Gilbert pushed forward.

"What do you mean?" he asked more forcefully, shoving the empty steins to the side as he joined his brother at the table. He placed the painting next to him at his feet. Ludwig thought it would be a mistake, but he decided tell Gil anyway.

"I found out that the painting was of Italy," he started. Gilbert listened carefully.

"The problem is that I remember my past as Holy Roman Empire."

Gilbert chuckled, "Kesesese...Well, doesn't anyone remember that they did and who they have met in their past?"

"That's not exactly what I meant! What I mean is the parts that I had forgotten before the war when I was young! That is what I remember! I resided at Austria's for a little while and I remember everything there!"

Gilbert did not know what to say. He allowed his brother to continue explaining knowing that there had to be more to the tale and since Ludwig was not going to be sober for quite a while he had better listen.

"I remember there being a young maid at Austria's manor. She was adorable in her own way. I always saw her sweeping with her broom..."

Germany continued sharing his memories. The good, the bad, even the embarrassing moments weren't left out. As he expressed his words, he carefully selected them with every event. He finally came to the last memory he wanted to speak about, the most precious but also most haunting one of all.

"Before I left for war, the maid and I spoke to each other one last time. It was then that she gave me her broom…and…something else." Gilbert was now at the edge of his chair, waiting for the following details. Ludwig started to blush, stumbling on his words – "Ah, well…um..a-a..."

Gil almost falls, regaining balance in his seat. "WHAT?! What did the maid give you?!" he cried obnoxiously.

Ludwig looked away, blushing red as he finally said. "..A kiss."

Silence.

Gilbert was speechless. Thoughts ran through his head as he heard Ludwig trying to explain that he didn't know the maid then was a boy. All that he did comprehended was this: his brother met a maid, fell in love with said maid, got kissed, left to war, came back with no recollection of his past, and just realized the maid he loved and his best friend Italy were the same person when he recently got his memory back. He could not contain himself anymore. Gilbert started laughing his hysterically.

"HAHA! YOU KISSED A GUY! HA!"

Ludwig's red face of embarrassment turned to a red face of pure anger. One knows that they're in deep scheisse when anyone, especially Germany, gains a scary aura rivaling even Russia's. Prussia could tell this, and he immediately stopped laughing. Ludwig sighed, his anger leaving as quickly as it had come.

"What am I going to do?" he whimpered.

"Tell everyone and watch their reactions?" Germany glared at his stupid older brother.

"-Or not. But people are going to find out eventually, bro." Prussia reasoned.

"You think I don't know that?" the German groaned, "What if someone finds out and tells Italy?!" Ludwig had an epiphany. "—WHAT IF HIS BROTHER DISCOVERS THE TRUTH?! I'M DEAD!"

His brother's antics started to annoy the Prussian. "Well, you're dead. It's as simple as that. Now while you're continuing your depressing and unawesome life, I'll take my alcohol and go somewhere else." He said, getting up to leave.

Ludwig lunged for his brother's legs. The albino tripped, kicking the blonde in the process. "Wha-let go of me!" He shouted annoyedly, shaking his leg to try and free himself.

"But I need your help!"

"NO!"

"YES!"

As the two bickered, the front door opened.

The siblings stopped quarreling in curiosity as to who had entered the house. The steps became louder and from around the corner an adorable face pops out with a "Oh, ciao Germany~! Ciao Prussia~! What are you guys up to?" he asked curiously, noting the strange position of both men.

Germany's face drained completely of color. The terror of Italy seeing him in his most vulnerable state became a reality.

He let go of Prussia stood up straight, trying to regain his gruff attitude. "Just showing my brother a thing or two about close combat."

"You moron!" Prussia piped up, "You were complai-."

_POP!_

Before more could be exposed, Germany shoved an open bottle of beer into the Prussian's big mouth. Impressed with Germany's quick movements, Italy clapped and praised his friend. "That was amazing!"

Ludwig didn't know why it was so amazing watching him open a bottle swiftly and give it to his brother, but it kept the naïve man ignorant of the situation.

But that became short lived. Prussia took the liquor out of his mouth and slammed it onto the table, shouting "You stupid-Mmph!"

Germany had covered his mouth and dragged him into the living room. His brother kicked and screamed to get free.

"Are you stupid?!" Ludwig hissed at him, throwing the Prussian's words back at him.

"What the hell?! Why'd you do that?" Prussia countered.

"Why do you think, arschloch?!"

"You just don't want to be embarrassed, right?" Gilbert jokingly asked.

"No! If Italy finds out that I as the boy in Austria's house, our relations will be ruined! He'll get creeped out, tell all the others, and I WILL BE THE LAUGHING STOCK OF THE WORLD!"

Prussia looked at the blonde quizzically. "But you already are the laughing stock."

Ludwig was growing tired of Gil's shenanigans. "Only to you," he responded dryly.

"Um…" Italy spoke up behind them.

The Germanic brothers had not noticed the confused Italian standing in the doorway.

"Is everything alright? I heard shouting…" he continued.

Germany slowly turned to him. "How much….did you hear?"

"Just the…well, the laughing stock part…but…"

"But what…?"

"But why would people laugh at-a you? You're nice person!"

Gilbert snorted. "Nice person, my ass…"

Ludwig kicked him in the shin before telling Italy to leave. The Italian looked at him in confusion, walking closer to the German.

"Why? I came back to help you with cleaning…" he protested.

"I can handle it myself," the German replied gruffly. "Just go and hang out with your brother or Japan or something. Anywhere but here."

"But—"

"NOW!"

Italy stopped. He knew he had crossed a line he shouldn't have, but the harshness of the German's voice….He never yelled at the Italian that way before….

Germany saw tears spring up in his best friend's eyes, and it was all his fault. _Scheisse. _"W-wait, Italy I'm—"

His apology was interrupted by the loud cries from the Italian. The bawling Italian was soon out the front door, running away from the unintentional hell he was given.

Germany felt incredibly terrible, making his friend and sometimes annoying roommate cry because he could not handle his own emotional stress. "….I blew it," he stated, his expression filled with shock and terror.

"Yes you did," Gilbert agreed, "and might I say….I don't know who acts more like a woman. Italy looks more girly and cries a lot, but you have the bipolar attitude in the worst situations."

Ludwig kicked the albino again, but his mind was still on Italy.

_What have I done?_

* * *

Here's the new chapter~ Sorry it took so long. I have a question for those reading this. Do you like the accents or no? I'm not sure if I like them anymore but I'll keep them if you guys are okay with them. Anyway, hope you liked it! Until next time~

-Canada

**EDIT:** I have gotten rid of the horrendous accents :D It flows much better now, eh?


	3. Compassion

FMH Ch 3

Wails and sobs sounded through Spain's estate. A couple of employees ran to see what the commotion was about.

"Oh, please go back to your duties: This is a troubling time for Romano's brother," Spain gently informed them. They left their master, and Spain, carrying a tray of lemonade, cookies and ripe tomatoes, quietly entered the living room.

Italy was crying in Romano's arms. His brother had tried to calm him down, wanting to find out the problem, while trying to make Italy sit up so he wouldn't cling to him.

"Okay, now try and tell me why you're crying." Romano demanded tiredly for the umpteenth time. Spain walked over.

"Romano, you need to show more compassion when someone is in pain." He offered Italy the snacks and beverage. Italy refused them with a shake of his head, and Romano grabbed a few tomatoes, shoving Spain with his foot.

"Compassion my ass." He glanced back at Feliciano, biting into one of the tomatoes "What happened?"

Italy sniffled and sat up a bit, attempting to say what was causing him to cry. "I w-went back home 'cause G-germany was cleaning. I wanted to help."

Romano stuffed his face with another tomato; he had finished off the first one during Italy's blubbering.

"Yeah, and…?"

"Well, he looked mad and scared and….I don't know, just not himself. Prussia was with him and I think they were talking about something 'cause Germany dragged Prussia into the other room, whispering something."

"Whispering, Feliciano?"

"…Maybe a little more than a whisper."

Romano nodded, "Contin—"

"Compassion, Romano~ " Spain lovingly reminded from across the room.

"SHUT UP!" He turned and nodded to his sibling again.

"So I wanted to know what they were talking about, you know, spy-style, and all I heard was something about Germany becoming the 'laughing stock'.

"When I started to ask about it, h-he told me to leave….." He started sobbing again, "he y-yelled at me…"

Romano stopped eating. "Look, he was probably in a bad moo—"

Italy dived into Romano's arms again, wailing—"Germany hates me now! I bothered him and he hates me! Brother, I don't know what to do!"

Tired of his crying, Romano got up.

"Fine, you want to know what to do? Let's go over there and kick that potato bastard's ass!" He bravely announced.

"But Germany is stronger than us; he'll beat us to a pulp and eat us for breakfast," Italy interjected.

Romano sat down depressingly, "Yeah, you're right."

"Why don't you go talk to him?" Spain suggested from his corner of the room.

Romano gave him a dirty look, but acknowledged the comment. "Alright! Come on, Feli. Let's go see him."


	4. Unwelcome Visitors

Sorry this took so long everyone! I've been super busy with homework and other fics and totally haven't been eating pancakes in my PJs and crying over Doctor Who instead of editing. Anyways, thank you for being patient and enjoy

~Canada

* * *

"You promise you won't tell anyone?" Ludwig interrogated.

"Of course! Why would I make my brother upset by telling the entire world that you love Italy?" responded Prussia, even though they both knew multiple reasons why he would, for his amusement being the main one. Germany gave him a look before Prussia sighed, his face growing serious.

"My lips are sealed, promise." He said, flashing the blonde a small smile.

With that finished, the two walked outside. The thick, suffocating heat surrounded them, the sun bearing down on them mercilessly. The wind that passed through did nothing to cool down the brothers, picking up loose greenery as it passed.

"Aren't we in Germany? I mean its August, but still. Why is it so fucking hot?" complained the albino, his pale skin already becoming a light pink as they stared out at the distant landscape of trees and mountains. Ludwig merely shrugged, turning to the house. Nature had invaded its perimeters, covering the architecture of the modestly sized house with foliage. He decided to trim the garden and repaint the side panels while he was at it. They were looking a bit faded.

As his brother started with his maintenance project, the Prussian watched him. He was aware of his tendencies to clean the inside of the house, being the militaristic neat freak that he was. Outside, not usually.

A few figures in the distance attracted Prussia's attention. He counted six of them, slowly making their way over towards them.

"Hey," the albino called behind him, alerting Ludwig. "I don't mean to interrupt you, but it looks like we have guests."

Germany stood up, wiping the sweat from his forehead and turning to gaze at the approaching figures. He wasn't done with his chores, but he still felt a bit insecure and annoyed with himself after his recent encounter with Italy, and he really wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone. "Tell them to go away."

Gilbert sighed, walking away from his brother and towards the group of visitors. Ludwig's attitude was starting to bother him, and he wondered if he should take him to a psychiatrist or something. Maybe getting him to interact with others would help his sour mood. Finally reaching the visitors, he saw England and America, with France and Japan tagging along, all dressed in their usual attire. How they could stand the heat in all those clothes was a mystery to the albino, who was wearing a wife beater and jeans instead of his uniform to help cool down.

The first three were chatting enthusiastically, while Japan listened intently. America and France were picking on England for having imaginary friends when they spotted Prussia.

"What's up, bro?! How are things?" bellowed America in his usual cheerful tone.

"Not so great. My brother doesn't want any visitors at the moment…" The albino announced.

France frowned. "But we came all the way here to see him…" he whined.

"Which is why you're going to come with me."

* * *

Ludwig turned to dispose of a bucketful of weeds he had pulled up, jumping slightly as he turned to find five people behind him, including his brother. He looked at him angrily, turning around as he dumped out the bucket.

"I told you that I don't want people around me." He said gruffly.

"But, brother…" The Prussian responded, concern filling his voice.

"GO AWAY!" the German bellowed, making the group behind him jump slightly. Gilbert, however, crossed his arms, holding his ground.

"I thought being around others would help you." Prussia reasoned.

"Is something wrong, Germany –san?" Japan asked quietly.

"Yeah, you seem a lot angrier than usual." followed France.

"Did someone steal your food? Or beer?" America stupidly asked, earning an eye roll from England.

Germany didn't reply, he was too busy seething in his own anger.

That's when the squabbling started—"Do you honestly think he would be this furious over someone taking his food without his permission?" the Brit asked America.

"Well, I—"

"I know I would be…" France interrupted.

"Of course _you_ would be."

"My food is actually worth eating, unlike yours…"

"Haha, he got you there Iggy!"

"Want to say that again, Frog?!"

"Kesesese, all of your food sucks!"

The bickering continued, with no signs of stopping anytime soon. Germany was already getting fed up with the already spoiled day. He had not seen Italy in two weeks and didn't know if he would get a chance to apologize. To be honest, not hearing that annoyingly cheerful voice shout about pasta or cats or whatever was really driving him a bit nuts. He was not allowed to feel sorry for himself for long due to the fact that he was surrounded by an increasingly loud group of idiots, with the exception of Japan. Rage built up inside the already pissed German.

"For the love of God, SHUT UP!" he cried, finally succeeding to shut up the babbling idiots. Everyone had stopped to stare at the enraged German.

"I can't take this anymore, I'm going inside." He said, walking into the house and slamming the door behind him. Silence fell upon the once noisy group.

"Well, that was uncalled for." Prussia stated, breaking the silence. After a second awkward pause, America spoke up.

"Let's go cheer him up!" he shouted, opening the door and running inside.

"Wait, you mannerless brat!" barked England, chasing quickly behind him.

France followed shortly after. "At least we know it's clean in there…" he sighed.

Prussia kept up with the group, leaving Japan standing outside awkwardly. "I don't think we should bother Mr. Germany!" he called fruitlessly to the four countries. Sighing, he reluctantly followed everyone inside.


End file.
